No can-no fill for high speed rotary filling machine

ABSTRACT

A high speed rotary filling machine is provided with means for sensing incoming empty containers before they are moved onto the turret of the filling machine. Each valve of the filling machine is provided with a movable cam follower and a latch for either arming the follower to open the valve, or disarming the follower to keep the valve closed, according to the presence or absence of an incoming empty container approaching the turret for subsequent alignment with that valve. Arming the follower is effected by a fixed cam lying in the path of the followers, and disarming the follower is effected by a power actuated cam adjacent the same path. Each filling valve, accordingly, is normally opened during the filling operation unless it has been previously disarmed.

United States Patent 1191 A Cayton [1451 July 30,1974

15 1 NO CAN-N0 FILL FOR HIGH SPEED 3,489,186 1/1970 Riker 141/141 ROTARYFILLING MACHINE 3,589,410 6/1971 Manas 141/141 [75] Inventor: David W.Cayton, Cupertino, Calif. [73] Assignee: FMC Corporation, San Jose,Calif. [22] Filed: Apr. 16, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 351,417

[52] US. Cl. 141/142 [51] Int. Cl B65b 57/02 [58] Field of Search141/140-143, l41/l56-l62, 183-191 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 874,874 12/1907 Taylor...... 141/142 1,117,346 11/1914Dickerson... 141/142 1,468,254 9/1923 Ayars...., 141/142 1,881,78410/1932 Mallinkrodt 141/141 2,684,804 7/1954 Huntar ct a1 141/1422,759,649 8/1956 Stigler..- 141/143 3,073,359 1/1963 Albrechtet 141/1423,139,915 7/1964 Minard 141/141 Primary Examiner-Houston S. Bell, Jr.Attorney, Agent, or Firm-C. E. Tripp [5 7 ABSTRACT A high speed rotaryfilling machine is provided with means for sensing incoming emptycontainers before they are moved onto the turret of the filling machine.Each valve of the filling machine is provided with a movable camfollower and a latch for either arming the follower to open the valve,or disarming the follower to keepthe valve closed, according to thepresence or absence of an incoming empty container approaching theturret for subsequent alignment with that valve. Arming the follower iseffected by a fixed cam lyingin the path of the followers, and disarmingthe follower is effected by a power actuated cam adjacent the same path.Each filling valve, accordingly, is normally opened during the fillingoperation unless it has been previously disarmed.

13 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL 3 01974 SHEEI 2 OF 4 mu mH-mlPATENTEU JUL30|974 SHEET 4 OF 4 1 NO CAN-NO FILL FOR HIGH SPEED ROTARYFILLING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the presentinvention is in filling machines, particularly high speed rotary fillingmachines embodying no can-no fill devices for disabling a filling valveif no container is present when the valve would otherwise be opened.More particularly, the present invention is directed to the specificproblem of a no canno fill mechanism which is capable of operating atfill rates in the order of 2,000 or more containers per minute todisable any given filling valve (or valves) for which there is no emptycontainer.

With general reference to prior art no can-n'o fill devices, some ofwhich are summarized below, the following broad operating principlesappear:

1. The containers directly actuate mechanical linkage associated witheach valve to move a valve actuator into position to open the valve atthe appropriate filling station.

2. The containers indirectly actuate a power mechanism for placing amovable valve operating member into the path of the actuator of thefilling valve.

In both cases, the filling valves are normally closed, and must beopened for each container present for a filling operation.

Thus, in the no can-no fill device disclosed in the Knoll U.S. Pat. No.3,040,787, issued on June 26, 1962, the rotary actuator for each valveis operated by movement past a pivoted actuator arm. If a container ispresent for filling, the container pivots a sensing arm which swings theactuator arm into a position to intercept the rotary valve actuator.While this arrangement may be suitable for relatively low speedoperation, the system cannot be successfully operated at the high fillrates of which the present invention is capable, because the impact ofthe container with the sensing arm will increase to the point where thecontainer will be damaged or broken, due to the inertia of the sensingarm, and/or the inertia will limit the system to relatively low speedoperation. V

Another prior art no can-no fill device is disclosed in the GallowayU.S. Pat. No. 2,770,404, issued on Nov. 13, 1956, wherein the fillingvalves are air operated. A movable can detector plate extends into thepath of the containers. Each passing container strikes the plate, movingit to mechanically cause the sequential movement of a slidable sleeve, apivotable bellcrank, a roller, a rod, and a cam. The cam is in turncontacted by part of an air control unit individual to each valve. Withthe many movable components in this system, the response time foropening the filling valves is appreciable, the system is complex tobuild and maintain, and the system may damage fragile containers ifoperated at the till rates herein contemplated.

The Boucher U.S. Pat. No. 3,105,525, issued Oct. 1, 1963, discloses a nocan-no fill mechanism for a filling machine having rotary valveactuators. Each container approaching the filling zone of the machinestrikes a shoe mounted on the bottom end of a vertically extending leverwhich is'pivoted between the shoe and a roller on the upper end of thelever. When the lever is pivoted by a container, the roller is movedinto the path of the rotary actuator for the filling valve. This systemhas the disadvantage for high speed operation that the container to shoeimpact can damage the container, and

the response time can only be shortened by increasing the impact.

In another type of no can-no fill device, the container is elevated forthe filling operation, and the container lifts certain components whichcondition the valve to open, such as by placing a displaceable valveoperating roller in position to engage a fill cam. The Taylor U.S. Pat.No. 874,874, issued Dec. 24, 1907, and the Dickerson U.S. Pat. No.1,117,346, issued Nov. 14, 1917, show this type of arrangement. Highspeed operation utilizing this operating mode can damage the containers.In a similar type of device, elevating the container shifts a movablecam section into valve opening position; the Ayars U.S. Pat. No.1,468,254 shows this operating mode. Another variation, shown in theAlbrecht et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,073,359, Jan. 15, 1963, is to employ apower-operated movable cam track wherein a container present for fillingindirectly places the cam track in position to open the valve.

A later refinement in no can-no fill devices more suitable for highspeed operation and for handling fragile containers is shown in MinardU.S. Pat. No. 3,139,915, issued July 7, 1964. In this patent, thecontainers are sensed by a photocell unit at the star wheel which feedsthe containers to the turret. The photocell unit sets pins on an analogmemory wheel to operate an air cylinder for positioning a shiftable camsection, as in the Albrecht et al. patent. Due to the sensing mode, theMinard structure is especially adapted to handle very fragilecontainers, of any desired shape.

While there are numerous other no can-no fill devices, it is believedthat the devices above outlined are fairly typical and representative.The common denominator of some of these prior art systems, is that thecontainer itself must provide a rapid reaction force to mechanicallyactuate the no can-no fill mechanism, and that the reaction force willincrease drastically if the rate of container movement is increased.Further, the mode of operation is that'a filling valve is normallyinoperative and made operable for the prevailing condition of acontainer being present, whereas it is obviously more efficient that afilling valve be normally operable, and only periodically disabled,because the no container condition is infrequent. In some cases,centrifugal force can adversely affect the operation if the rotationalspeed of the turret is increased, because pivotable linkages areemployed in which the pivot axis is not radially related to the turret.

A basic aspect of the present invention, with the primary objectivebeing a capability of handling 2,000 or more containers per minute, isthat the most efficient arrangement, in the type of filling valve whichoperates by axial movement of the valve core, is to maintain the fillingvalves in a normally ready condition for the more prevalent fillingcycle, and to periodically disable a valve core lifting mechanism forthe relatively infrequent occasions when a container is absent.Accordingly, a feature of the present invention is:

l. The lifter for each moving valve is always conditioned to open by onemeans for a filling operation, and is disabled by a second, structurallyseparate and remote means only if a container is absent.

Another aspect of the present invention is that because the incomingcontainers for a rotary filling machine turret are fed by a transferstar wheel operated in timed relation with the turret, the sensing ofthe presence of a container to be ultimately positioned under a fillingvalve can effectively and positively be detected at the transfer starwheel, before the container is fed to the turret, without any interposedmemory device, such as in the aforementioned Minard US. Pat. No.3,l39,9l5, to control the opening of the filling valve. Accordingly, afeature of the present invention is:

2. A container detector is associated with the feed mechanism thatoperates in timed relation with the turret, and .the timing is arrangedso that the presence or absence of a container at the feed mechanismallows the detector ample time to directly operate the filling valvedisabling mechanism for the valve corresponding to an absent container.

A further aspect of the invention is the useful exploitation of the factthat a filling valve operates by relative spatial motion with fixedstructure of the filling machine. Accordingly, a further and morespecific feature of the present invention is:

3. Each filling valve is provided with an actuator which is normallyarmed or preset by a fixed cam for the filling operation, and is onlyperiodically disarmed and rendered inoperative for a filling operationby a movable, power operated cam in fixed location, and separate fromany of the continuous cam tracks, whenever a container is absent fromone of the container positions sensed by the container feed mechanism.

A further feature of the present invention is that the pivotablecomponents carried by the valves are relatively unaffected bycentrifugal force because their pivot axes are substantially radialrelative to the turning axis of the turret on which the valvesaremounted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the inventiveconceptsoutlined above, the structural embodiment of those concepts includesfixed sensing means which scans the passing recesses of a star wheelthat feeds empty containers in timed relation onto the turret of a highspeed rotary filling machine. Each filling valve on the turret isactuated by a cam follower pivoted to a block which moves with thevalves as the valve moves between open and closed positions. A latch isprovided for locking the pivotally mounted cam follower to the block, orfor releasing the cam follower for independent movement relative to theblock. In effect, this locking or releasing of a cam follower isequivalent to arming or disarming the valve lifting mechanism, so thatthe valve will either open to fill a container, or will remain closed ifno container is positioned beneath the valve. A fixed cam in the path ofthe latches sets or arms the previously disarmed cam followers to openthe valves in the next filling cycle. Further downstream, a poweractuated disarming cam is movable into the path of the latches torelease or disarm a given cam follower in response to a nocontainersignal from the sensing means. Thus, only a single sensing means, and nocomplex additional valve mechanism is required, and the powerenergized-cam operated mode of operation provides a rapid response tothe no-container signal so that extremely high filling rates areachieved with reliable no can-no fill operation. An important feature ofthe present invention is its fail safe mode of operation because iteliminates mechanisms which can jam the filling machine if a malfunction occurs in the no can-no fill components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic verticalsection through a plunger-valve type of rotary filling machine.

FIG. 1A is an operational view of the right-hand valve shown in FIG. 1,but in a different operational position.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded isometric showing typical mechanism forselectively operating a filling valve according to the presence orabsence of -a container in filling position for that valve.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic horizontal section taken along lines 3-3 onFIG. 1.

FIGS. 4-6 are composite diagrammatic elevations and'plans showing thesequential steps in disarming or inactivating a filling valve, and thecorrelated positions of a filling machine turret and a star wheelassociated with the filling machine for feeding containers to theturret; the respective section lines for the upper portions of FIGS. 4-6are indicated on FIG. 3.

FIGS. 7-10 are diagrammatic elevations similar to the correspondingportions of FIGS. 4-6, and illustrate further sequential operations ofthe valve actuating mechanism; the respective section lines for FIGS.7-10 are shown on FIG. 3.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged section of a container sensing mechanism, and istaken along lines 11-11 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11, but with the empty container ofFIG. 11 omitted.

FIG. 13 is a schematic plan showing the major operating componentsassociated with the container sensing mechanism of FIGS. 11 and 12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The rotary filling machine 20shown in FIG. 1 is of V the general type disclosed in the previouslymentioned Gollmer U.S. Pat. No. 2,307,214, in which the valvescontrolling the product dispensing function operate with axial motion.The type of filling machine disclosed in the Gollmerpatent had an outputof about -125 filled containers per minute, whereas depending on theproduct, the filling machine 20 is capable, with a 22- pocket turret andwith certain products, of outputs over 2,000 filled containers perminute. However, due to speed limitations of a processing line, theactual filler output in commercial use may be somewhat smaller. Some nocan-no fill mechanisms of the prior art are not capable of operation atsuch high output rates because of the inability of the structure toreact fast enough, because centrifugal force impairs operation, or forother reasons. A no can-no fill mechanism is now an essentially standardpart of modern high speed filling machines because if a defectivecontainer must be removed from the container supply line, or if thecontainer feed is otherwise temporarily interrupted, the productintended for the missing container or containers is not only wasted, butwill contaminate the machine and work area, and cause additional cleanupworle.

With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the present invention concerns a no can-nofill mechanism comprising a valve control 22 associated with eachfilling valve assembly 24, a container sensing mechanism 26, a fixedarming cam 28 which lies in the path of the valve control 22, and apower operated disarming cam 30 which is movable into the path of thevalve control mechanism 22 and is responsive to the container sensingmechanism 26. The rotary filling machine is of the type wherein thefilling valves 24 operate with axial motion, and each filling valve isassociated with positive displacement means for feeding a measuredvolume of product to the valve.

With more specific reference to the filling machine 20 (FIG. 1), whichis conventional except for the no can-no fill mechanism, a fixed supportpedestal or frame 32 supports a hollow cylindrical turret housing 34that is rotatably mounted on a support bearing 36. A large gear 38 issecured to the lower end of the turret housing 34 and is meshed with agear 40 driven by a gear box 42. The same gear box drives a shaftassembly 43, for a vertically superposed star wheel 44, in timedrelation to the turret housing for feeding incoming empty containers Cfrom an input conveyor belt (FIG. 3) over a support track 46 to thefilling machine. The belt 45 and an associated feed screw 47 are alsodriven by the gear box 42. For this purpose, a drive belt 49 from thegear box drives a second gear box 51 (FIG. 7

3) that directly drives the feed screw 47, and by a belt and pulleydrive 53 powers the input conveyor belt 45. The pedestal 32 has upwardlyextending standards, one of which is shown at 48, (FIG. 1) forsupporting certain non-rotatable elements of the filling machine.

Fixed parts include an inclined plunger cam which surrounds the lowerportion of the'turret housing 34 and is adjustable for inclination, twocircular container support tracks 52, and an arcuate filling valve cam56 at the upper end of the machine.

Parts which rotate with the turret housing 34 include a circumferentialarray of plunger displacement cylinders 58, the filling valves 24, anopen-top product supply tank 60, and a peripherally recessed turretplate 62 which defines moving, semicircular pockets P (FIG. 3) for thecontainers C.

The plunger valve cylinders 58 communicate with the interior of thesupply tank 60 during part of their circular path, and in another partmove under and are sealed by a fixed slider plate 63. Accordingly,product from the supply tank 60 (FIG. 1) fills each plunger valvecylinder 58, as shown for the valve 24 at the right side of FIG. 1, tothe top of a piston 64 which is slidable in the cylinder. Forreciprocating the pistons 64, the plunger cam 50 is engaged by a camfollower unit 66, for each piston. Each cam follower unit is slidablymounted for vertical movement in a guide assembly 68, which is securedto the rotatable turret housing 34, and is connected to the piston by apiston rod 70. The piston rod is mounted on the follower unit 66 toprevent rotation of the piston so that the inclined top surface of thepiston always declines toward the filling valve 24. It will be evidentthat the adjusted position of the plunger cam 50 determines the volumeof product admitted to the plunger valve cylinder 58.

With continued unitary rotation of a plunger valve cylinder 58, anadjacent empty container C, and one of the filling valves 24 verticallyaligned with the container, the plunger valve cylinder 58 is sealed asit slides under the slider plate 63. This position is comparable to thatshown for the valve 24 at the left side of FIG. 1 wherein it will beseen that the slider plate 63 closes the upper end of the plunger valvecylinder 58. The plunger cam 50 then begins to raise the plunger valvepiston 64 for transferring the product into the container. At this time,the filling valve 24 is opened, having been moved to open position bythe filling valve cam 56 because a container C is present for thefilling operation. As will be described, if no container is present, theno can-no fill apparatus of the present invention disables the fillingvalve so that, even though the cam 56 reacts with the filling valve inthe usual way, the ports of the valve remain closed.

Each filling valve 24 includes a cast housing (FIG. 1) having an inletpassage 82, an outlet passage 84, a cylindrical valve core 86 verticallyslidable in the housing, and an open lower end 87 through which theproduct is transferred to the underlying container. An arcuate recess 88in the valve core 86 is arranged to periodically interconnect the inletand outlet passages 82 and 84. It will be seen that the upper portionsof the plunger valve cylinders 58 are formed by a valve ring 90 havinglateral passages 92 which each align with one of the filling valveoutlet passages 84. In the right-hand filling valve 24 of FIG. 1, thebottom end of the valve core 86 lies just above the outlet passage 84,and the lifting of the piston 64 will force the product from the plungervalve cylinder 58 through the passages 92 and 84, and out the openbottom end 87 of the valve housing 80 into the container C.

If the valve core 86 (FIG. 1A) is lowered to seal off the passage 84from the container C shown in phantom, the arcuate recess 88interconnects the passages 82 and 84, and a subsequent raising of theplunger valve piston 64 will force the product through the passages 92,84, 88 and 82 back into the supply tank 60. This is the operationalsequence which results when the no can-no fill mechanism of the presentinvention senses the absence of-a container C in fill position for eachfilling valve 24 approaching the filling zone of the fillingmachine; theappropriate filling valve 24 will be disabled as described above, andthe product intended for the absent container will be returned to thesupply tank 60.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, the upper end of the filling valve core86 is provided with an integral flanged head 94 which in the assembledvalve fits into a corresponding recess 96 in a slide block 98. Thus, therecess 96, bestshown in FIGS. 7-10, has a form substantiallycomplementary to the flanged head 94 (FIG. 2) to lock the assembledblock 98 and head 94 together for coextensive vertical movement. Theslide block 98 is a part of the valve control mechanism 22 of thepresent invention, and inturn, is slidable upon two fixed guide bars 100that extend upward from the valve housing 80. In order to selectivelyopen or close the filling valve 24 in the manner and for the purposeabove described, a pivotally mounted cam follower roller 102 is carriedby the slide block 98 and rides on the filling valve cam 56. Thefollower roller 102 can be locked to the slide block 98 so that theslide block and the valve core 86 rise and fall with the elevationalchanges in the cam 56 to open and close the filling valve.Alternatively, the cam follower roller 102 can be unlocked from theslide block 98 so that the elevational changes in the cam 56 will pivotthe roller 102 but leave the slide block 98 and the valve core 86 attheir lowermost positions, wherein the filling valve 24 will remainclosed.

For selectively operating the filling valve 24, the cam follower roller102 is mounted on a pivotable carrier lever 104, the pivot of whichcomprises an integral bolt 106 extending through the slide block 98. Alaterally extending stop abutment 107 (FIG. 2) on the lever 104 limitsthe downward movement of the lever 104 by engaging an edge of the slideblock. The slide block 98 also carries a pivotable latch or pawl 108mounted on an integral pivot bolt 110. In the same manner as the lever104, the latch 108 is provided with a lateral abutment 112 for limitingdownward movement of the latch. Projecting in the opposite directionfrom one end of the latch 108 is a laterally extending cam 114 having anupper camming surface and a lower camming surface. The upper cammingsurface is arranged to slide under the fixed arming cam 28 (FIGS. 3 andto lock the follower roller 102 to the slide block 98, and the lowercamming surface is arranged to slide over the disarming cam 30 (FIGS. 5and 6) to unlock the roller 102 from the slide block 98 so thatelevation of the follower roller 102 by-the filler valve cam 56 will notlift the valve core 86. In effect, therefore, the respective upper andlower camming surfaces of the cam 1 14, and the cams with which theycooperate, arm and disarm the associatedfiller valve 24, because in thefirst instance the follower roller 102 can lift and open the valve core86 of the tiller valve, whereas in the second instance elevation of theroller 102 cannot change the closed condition of the valve.

With reference to FIG. 4, the other end of the latch 108 has an endportion 120 which is arranged to engage an abutment portion 122 of thecarrier lever 1.04. This is the armed position of each valve controlmechanism 22 when it approaches the disarming cam 30 (FIGS. 1 and 4). Asshown in the bottom portion of FIG. 4, it is assumed for the operationalsequence to be later described that in an incoming series of containersC1-C8, container C3 is missing due to some upstream condition, such asits removal because of damage. The star wheel 44 carries the incomingcontainers, in timed relation with the rotary turret of the fillingmachine, past the container sensing mechanism 26 (FIG. 3) to determinethe presence or absence of a container for each recess of the starwheel. A fixed, curved guide bar 126 maintains the containers centeredover the adjacent container support track 46.

FIGS. 11 and 12 respectively ilIustrate the container sensing mechanism26 in the operative positions resulting from the presence of a containerand the absence of a container. A hinge block 124 (also see FIG. 3) issecured to the guide bar 126. A pivot bolt-128 extends through the hingeblock and through a depending swing block 130. The block 130 carries acontainer sensing plate 132 having an arcuate inner edge 134 (FIG. 3)arranged to be contacted by each container carried past by the starwheel 44.

Underlying the sensing plate 132, FIGS. 11-13, are two air valves 136,137. Each air valve is provided with a pivoted actuator lever 138,having a roller engaged with the underside of the sensing plate 132, andarranged to operate a valve plunger 139 (FIG. 13). The plungers 139 arespring biased upward so that the sensing plate 132 is biased toward itsFIG. 12 position. A container sliding against the surface 134 of thesensing plate 132 will simultaneously efi'ect the depression of bothvalve plungers 139. Each valve l36and 137 includes an air inlet conduit140, and an air outlet conduit 142. The two inlet conduits 140 areconnected to an air pressure supply line, not shown, and the two outletconduits 142 are connected to a double-acting air cylinder 144 (alsoshown in FIGS. 5 and 6) to power the disarming cam 30 in both the up anddown directions. A bracket 145 (FIGS. 11 and 12) depends from thesupport track 46 and mounts the valves 136 and 137. The valve actuatinglevers 138 are simultaneously operated by the sensing plate 132, the airvalve 137 being normally open and the air valve 136 being normallyclosed when the actuators 138 are not depressed. As shown in FIGS. 5 and6, the air cylinder 144 is mounted on the vertical leg of an anglebracket 146 which depends from the filling valve earn 56, and thedisarming cam 30 (FIG. 3) extends inward of the filling valve cam in thepath of the latch arm cam 114 (FIG. 5). To prevent rotation of thedisarming cam 30, it

slides against the vertical leg of the angle bracket 146.

It will be evident that conventional venting means, not shown, areprovided to bleed air from either end of the cylinder 144 when theopposite end is energized.

With reference to FIG. 4, the cam 114 for the filling valve V3 is inposition to be contacted by the disarming cam 30 if the air cylinder 144is energized to elevate the cam 30.

The containers C5, C6, C7 and C8 in FIG. 4 have maintained the containersensing plate 132 in the FIG. 11 position, and the air valve 136 (FIG.13) has held the disarming cam 30 in its lowermost, retracted position.Thus, the air cylinder 144 is only energized to project the disarmingcam upward into the path of the cam 114 for the particular filiing valvewhich corresponds to an empty recess in the star wheel 44. In thepresent instance, this is the filiing valve V3 (FIG. 5), correspondingto the absent container C3.

In FIG. 5, the container C4 has moved against the container sensingplate 132. As shown by the phantom lines, container C5 does not leavecontact with the plate 132 until after the container C4 has engaged theplate. Thus, when there is no gap in thesupply of containers in the starwheel, there is no change in the condition of the air cylinder 144 andthe retracted position of the disarming cam 30. As seen in the upperportion of FIG. 5 for the valve V3, the roller 102 of the valve controlmechanism 22 has been elevated a slight amount on an upwardly inclinedramp portion 148 of the filler valve cam 56. This elevating movement isnot sufficient to open the filling valve, and is for the purpose ofpreconditioning the armed latch 108 to prevent re-engagement of thelatch 108 with the follower carrier 104 when valve V3 is disarmed by thedisarming cam 30, as will be next described.

As soon as the container C4 is carried by the star wheel 44 past thecontainer sensing plate 132, the plate is free to swing toward the axisof the star wheel because the pocket which would have received acontainer in the (C3)position is empty. Accordingly, the air valve 136(FIG. 13) closes, the air valve 137 opens, and the piston of the aircylinder 144 is actuated to raise the disarming cam 30 into the path ofthe cam 1 14 to pivot the latch 108 clockwise, as shown in FIG. 6.Because the roller 102 is elevated slightly asit moves up the ramp 148(FIG. 5), a gravitational bias tending to pivot the carrier lever 104clockwise about its pivot 106 is created due to the weight of the slideblock 98, the valve core 86 attached to the slide block, and other partsthat are supported by the roller 102.

Thus, when the disarming cam 30 is elevated as previously described, theinstantaneous operation shown in FIG. 6 occurs; the cam 114 contacts thedisarming cam 30 and pivots the latch 108 so that it disengages thecarrier lever 104. As soon as the carrier lever 104 is free of the latch108, the weight of the slide block 98, the valve core 86 attached to theslide block,- and other parts, causes the slide block 98 to immediatelydrop to the FIG. 7 position. Sincethe follower roller 102 (FIG. 6) issupported by the filling valve cam 56, the result is that the followercarrier lever 104 is immediately pivoted clockwise from the FIG. 6 tothe FIG. 7 position so that the latch arm 108 cannot under anycircumstances reestablish locking relation with the carrier lever 104.The valve operating mechanism for the valve V3 is now positivelydisarmed.

When the valve V3 (FIG. 6) and the pocket P3 move intocontainer-transfer relation to the star wheel recess from which thecontainer C3 is absent, the follower roller 102 (FIG. 8) has traveled upa ramp 150 onto an elevated track section 152 of the filling valve cam56. It is clear that if the latch arm 108 had not been released fromengagement with the follower carrier lever 104, the slide block 98 wouldhave been elevated to lift the valve core 86 and open the filling valveV3. However, in the present case where the valve V3 must be kept closedbecause of the absence of the container C3, the ramp section 150 merelypivots the follower carrier lever 104 upward about its pivot bolt 106without elevating the slide block 98. The valve core 86 (FIG. 1A) thusremains in its lowermost, closed position, and the valve passage 88returns the product to the product supply tank 60 when the filling orplunger piston 64 (FIG. 1) is elevated by the inclined plunger cam 50.

The track section 152 (FIG. 9) merges with a descending ramp 154, and alevel portion 156 near the end of the filling valve cam 56, at which thereset cam 28 (FIG. 10) positively returns the latch components to thelatched position shown in FIG. 4. However, the carrier lever 104 isoverbalanced so that it will normally push the latch arm 108 aside andreset the latch before the FIG. 10 position is reached. If not, thereset cam 28 makes this reset action positive.

As mentioned, if the latch arm 108 of any filling valve does not engagethe disarming cam 30 (FIGS. 4 and 5) the filling valve will remain inthe normally operative position of FIG. 4, through the full rotation ofthe filling machine turret. Thus, the valve will be opened and remainopen while traversing the elevated track section v To summarize, themachine functions which will keep a valve armed for a normal fillingoperation of course initiate with the container sensing mechanism 26(FIG. 1). If a container is present at the sensing station, thedisarming cam 30 (FIG. 5) will remain in its down position out of thepath of the cam 114 on the latch arm 108, and the valve controlmechanism 22 will remain in its latched or armed position. Then, whenthe follower roller 102 is carried up the ramp section 150 (FIG. 8) theslide block 98 will be elevated to raise the valve core 86 to the openposition illustrated in FIG. 1. The plunger piston 64 then rises andforces the product from the plunger valve cylinder 58 through thepassages 92 and 84 out of the open bottom end 87 of the valve housing 80into the container C aligned with that valve.

In accordance with the previously enumerated features of the presentinvention, it will be evident that with the described container sensingand valve manipulating operations, each filling valve lifting mechanismis normally armed to open the valve 24 for a container fillingoperation, and disarmed to permit the valve 24 to remain closed for afill-bypassing operation, both the arming and disarming being controlledby container sensing means apart from the turret. Further, in contrastto prior no can-no fill devices, the valve control mechanism of thepresent system is not affected by centrifugal force, and has nocomponents which can jam or damage the filling machine in the event of amalfunction; the worst consequence of a malfunction is that a fillingvalve which is supposed to remain closed might discharge its contents.

A further useful aspect of the present invention concerns the containersensing mode. By locating the container sensing apparatus 26 adjacentthe star wheel 44, rather than on the turret of the filling machine 20,and by keeping it physically separate from the valve actuatingmechanism, it now becomes feasible to employ photoelectric sensing, orany other sensing system which requires little or no contact with acontainer, but without requiring a memory device to correlate thecontainer sensing with the filling valves on the turret. It will berecognized, therefore, that the no can-no fill system of the presentinvention is compatible with very fragile containers, such as glass oraluminum, because the containers need not be impacted and possiblydamaged to detect their presence.

Although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent thatmodification and variation may be made without departing from what isregarded to be the subject matter of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rotary filling machine of the type including valves each havingany externally operated valve core for opening and closing ports in thehousing of the valve and a no can-no fill mechanism; the improvement insaid no can-no fill mechanism comprising external mounting means rigidlyconnected to the valve core; valve operating means displaceablyconnected to said mounting means for movement with or relative thereto;and latching means on said mounting means for selective engagement ordisengagement with said valve operating means; said engagement lockingsaid valve operating means to arm said mounting means for unitarymovement of said valve operating means, said mounting means and saidvalve core; said disengagement disarming said valve operating means formovement relative to said mounting means, and means for disarming saidvalve operating means when no can is presented to the associated fillervalve.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said disarming meanscomprises movable camming means fixed adjacent the path of said latchingmeans, and means for selectively moving said camming means to interceptand actuate said latching means to disarm said valve operating means.

3. In a rotary filling machine of the type including a A containerfeeding star wheel, turret mounted valves each having a verticallymovable valve core for opening or closing ports in the housing of thevalve and a no can-no fill mechanism, the improvement in said no cannofill mechanism comprising an external block connected to the valve core,a cam follower displaceably connected to said block for selectivemovement of said cam follower with or relative to said block. and alatch mounted on said block for selective engagement or disengagementwith said cam follower, engagement of said latch with said cam followerlocking said cam follower to said block for unitary movement of thefollower, block and valve core, disengagement of said latch freeing saidcam follower for movement relative to the block, and means fordisengaging said latch from said cam follower when a can is presented tothe associated filler valve.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said latch disengaging meanscomprises a movable arming cam adjacent the path of said latch, powermeans for moving said arming cam to intercept and actuate said latch toa position wherein said cam follower is disengaged for movementindependent of said block, and control means remote from said turretincluding means for sensing the presence or absence of a container andmeans for controlling said arming cam accordingly.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said container sensing means isdisposed at said star wheel.

6. In a rotary filling machine carrying a circular array of valves infilling relation with opencontainers, the valves being individuallymovable between open and closed positions, and a no can-no fillmechanism the improvement in said no can-no fill mechanism comprisingmounting means connected to each valve for movement therewith, movablefollower means carried by said mounting means, latch means on saidmounting means for selectively locking said follower means for movementwith-said mounting means or unlocking said follower means for movementrelative to said mounting means, means for sensing the presence orabsence of an empty incoming container, and latch operating meansresponsive to said sensing means for actuating said latch to unlock saidfollower means when no container is presented to the associated fillingvalve.

7. In a container filling machine including a rotary turret carrying acircular array of filling valves in filling relation with opencontainers, the valves being movable by individual cam followers betweenopen and closed positions, and a no can-no fill mechanism; theimprovement in said no can-no fill mechanism comprising a blockconnected to each valve for movement therewith, means mounting said camfollower on said block for selective movement with or relative to saidblock,

a latch mounted on said block for selectively locking said cam followerfor movement with said block or for unlocking said cam follower formovement relative to said block, means for sensing the presence orabsence of an empty incoming container, and means responsive to saidsensing means for unlocking said latch in the absence of an emptyincoming container corresponding to the associated filling valve.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said latch operating meanscomprises power means, and a latch cam movable by said power means intothe path of said latch.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 and means pivoting said latch arm tosaid block, said latch arm being overbalanced to engage said camfollower, said cam follower being normally locked for movement with saidblock by said latch arm.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 and a first cam surface on theoverbalanced end of said latch arm, said cam surface being engageablewith said latch cam to unlock said latch arm.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 and a second cam surface on theoverbalanced end of said latch arm, and a static locking cam in the pathof said second camming surface to reset said latch arm to lock said camfollower following the unlocking of said latcharm by said latch'operating means.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said cam follower includes acam roller, a follower arm carrying said cam roller, and a pivot shaftconnecting said follower arm to said block, said follower arm having anabutment surface engageable by said latch arm to prevent pivotalmovement of said follower arm about the axis of said pivot shaft.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 and means for feeding a spacedseries of incoming empty containers to theturret, said feeding meansoperating in timed relation to said turret so that a container in saidfeeding means is correlated to an eventual position on the turret, andmeans mounting said container sensing means to scan the incomingcontainers in said feeding means before delivery to the turret.

1. In a rotary filling machine of the type including valves each havingan externally operated valve core for opening and closing ports in thehousing of the valve and a no can-no fill mechanism; the improvement insaid no can-no fill mechanism comprising external mounting means rigidlyconnected to the valve core; valve operating means displaceablyconnected to said mounting means for movement with or relative thereto;and latching means on said mounting means for selective engagement ordisengagement with said valve operating means; said engagement lockingsaid valve operating means to arm said mounting means for unitarymovement of said valve operating means, said mounting means and saidvalve core; said disengagement disarming said valve operating means formovement relative to said mounting means, and means for disarming saidvalve operating means when no can is presented to the associated fillervalve.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said disarming meanscomprises movable camming means fixed adjacent the path of said latchingmeans, and means for selectively moving said camming means to interceptand actuate said latching means to disarm said valve operating means. 3.In a rotary filling machine of the type including a container feedingstar wheel, turret mounted valves each having a vertiCally movable valvecore for opening or closing ports in the housing of the valve and a nocan-no fill mechanism, the improvement in said no can-no fill mechanismcomprising an external block connected to the valve core, a cam followerdisplaceably connected to said block for selective movement of said camfollower with or relative to said block, and a latch mounted on saidblock for selective engagement or disengagement with said cam follower,engagement of said latch with said cam follower locking said camfollower to said block for unitary movement of the follower, block andvalve core, disengagement of said latch freeing said cam follower formovement relative to the block, and means for disengaging said latchfrom said cam follower when a can is presented to the associated fillervalve.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said latch disengagingmeans comprises a movable arming cam adjacent the path of said latch,power means for moving said arming cam to intercept and actuate saidlatch to a position wherein said cam follower is disengaged for movementindependent of said block, and control means remote from said turretincluding means for sensing the presence or absence of a container andmeans for controlling said arming cam accordingly.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4, wherein said container sensing means is disposed at said starwheel.
 6. In a rotary filling machine carrying a circular array ofvalves in filling relation with open containers, the valves beingindividually movable between open and closed positions, and a no can-nofill mechanism the improvement in said no can-no fill mechanismcomprising mounting means connected to each valve for movementtherewith, movable follower means carried by said mounting means, latchmeans on said mounting means for selectively locking said follower meansfor movement with said mounting means or unlocking said follower meansfor movement relative to said mounting means, means for sensing thepresence or absence of an empty incoming container, and latch operatingmeans responsive to said sensing means for actuating said latch tounlock said follower means when no container is presented to theassociated filling valve.
 7. In a container filling machine including arotary turret carrying a circular array of filling valves in fillingrelation with open containers, the valves being movable by individualcam followers between open and closed positions, and a no can-no fillmechanism; the improvement in said no can-no fill mechanism comprising ablock connected to each valve for movement therewith, means mountingsaid cam follower on said block for selective movement with or relativeto said block, a latch mounted on said block for selectively lockingsaid cam follower for movement with said block or for unlocking said camfollower for movement relative to said block, means for sensing thepresence or absence of an empty incoming container, and means responsiveto said sensing means for unlocking said latch in the absence of anempty incoming container corresponding to the associated filling valve.8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said latch operating meanscomprises power means, and a latch cam movable by said power means intothe path of said latch.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 8 and meanspivoting said latch arm to said block, said latch arm being overbalancedto engage said cam follower, said cam follower being normally locked formovement with said block by said latch arm.
 10. Apparatus according toclaim 9 and a first cam surface on the overbalanced end of said latcharm, said cam surface being engageable with said latch cam to unlocksaid latch arm.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 10 and a second camsurface on the overbalanced end of said latch arm, and a static lockingcam in the path of said second camming surface to reset said latch armto lock said cam follower following the unlocking of said latch arm bysaid latch operating means.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 11 whereinsAid cam follower includes a cam roller, a follower arm carrying saidcam roller, and a pivot shaft connecting said follower arm to saidblock, said follower arm having an abutment surface engageable by saidlatch arm to prevent pivotal movement of said follower arm about theaxis of said pivot shaft.
 13. Apparatus according to claim 12 and meansfor feeding a spaced series of incoming empty containers to the turret,said feeding means operating in timed relation to said turret so that acontainer in said feeding means is correlated to an eventual position onthe turret, and means mounting said container sensing means to scan theincoming containers in said feeding means before delivery to the turret.